If you have discharge from the vagina or penis, it is important to note any smell or color. Did you use latex condoms to protect against STIs? Which sexual behaviors do you or your partner engage in, including high-risk behaviors such as sex with multiple partners? Have you had an STI in the past? How was it treated? Have you ever had an abnormal Pap test for women? For women After your doctor takes your medical history, you will have a gynecological exam, which usually includes a Pap test.
For men After the medical history, you will have a physical exam for genital warts. Doctors do not recommend a screening test for HPV infection in men. For men and women Some experts believe that people who receive anal sex should have a screening for anal cancer, especially if they also have HIV infection. If visible warts are present, a diagnosis can usually be made without more testing. Genital warts may disappear without treatment. This is the natural course of many genital warts.
Destroying large areas of warts is difficult and may cause scarring. Treatment for genital warts does not eliminate the HPV infection. You may still be able to spread the infection. Latex condoms can help reduce the risk of HPV infection. Treatment of genital warts can be painful, and warts may return after treatment. Warts that return after being treated usually are not treated again unless you want to be retreated.
If you do, you would usually choose a different form of treatment. Types of treatment Treatments for genital warts include medicines, freezing, laser, or surgery. The type of medical treatment for genital warts will depend on: The number, size, and location of warts. The side effects of treatment. The skill of the doctor for each treatment option. The cost of treatment, which varies depending on: The cost of medicine.
Any specialized equipment used. The number of treatments needed. The problems caused by the warts such as blockage of the urethra. Your preference. If you are pregnant. Some wart medicines should not be used during pregnancy. Medicines Doctors often recommend medicine applied to warts topical drug treatment as the first choice of treatment. Surgery and other treatment Surgery to remove genital warts may be done when: Medicine treatment has failed and the removal of warts is considered necessary.
Warts are widespread. What to think about Without treatment, external genital warts may remain unchanged, increase in size or number, or go away.
Treatment of warts usually requires a series of applications rather than a single treatment. Warts in moist areas usually respond better to treatments applied to the area, such as creams or acids.
Warts on dry skin may respond best to freezing cryotherapy or surgical removal. Cryotherapy may be done when genital warts are visible and bothersome and are growing in a small area. Repeat treatments may be needed to remove all wart tissue.
The success of surgery is related to the number of warts. The success rate is higher and additional treatments are less likely to be needed when surgery is done on fewer and smaller warts. Surgery may require anesthesia. Small areas of warts can be quickly treated with removal methods, such as cryotherapy or surgical excision.
Self-applied medicines may be used for larger areas of warts that need longer or repeated treatments. Prevention You can reduce your risk of becoming infected with the human papillomavirus HPV or another sexually transmitted infection STI. Practice safer sex Preventing a sexually transmitted infection STI is easier than treating an infection after it occurs.
Talk with your partner about STIs before beginning a sexual relationship. Find out whether he or she is at risk for an STI. Remember that it is possible to be infected with an STI without knowing it.
Be responsible. Having several sex partners increases your risk of getting an STI. Male condom use Latex condom use can reduce the risk of becoming infected with HPV.
Female condom use Even if you are using another birth control method, you may wish to use condoms to reduce your risk of getting an STI.
Vaccine If you are age 26 or younger, you can get the HPV shot. You can use at-home care to feel more comfortable.
Take sitz baths. Fill a tub with a few inches of warm water and sit in it for 10 or 15 minutes every day. Squeeze warm water from a bottle over your genital area to provide comfort and cleansing. Keep the warts clean and dry in between baths. You may want to let the sores air dry. This may feel better than a towel. Medications Medicine may be used to destroy bothersome genital warts, relieve your symptoms, and reduce the amount of area affected by warts, particularly when the warts are: Visible, bothersome, and growing in a small area.
A cosmetic concern and you want them removed. Warts that are growing around the anus or on external genitals, such as on the penis or vulva , may be removed because they are unsightly.
Some treatments that remove genital warts are more likely to leave scars. So cosmetic concerns about scarring may help guide the choice of treatment. Treatment applied at home The following medicines can be applied to the affected area topical treatment at home: Imiquimod such as Aldara Podofilox lotion or gel such as Condylox Sinecatechins such as Veregen Do not use these medicines during pregnancy.
Treatment applied by a doctor Treatment by a doctor can: Treat areas that you cannot reach easily. Treat a large area. Remove the warts quickly. Be expensive. Be painful. Have side effects. Intralesional injected into wart lesion interferon.
Treatment during pregnancy Treatment for pregnant women includes trichloroacetic acid TCA , cryotherapy, laser therapy, loop electrosurgical excision procedure LEEP , and surgical removal by electrocautery or excision. What to think about Avoid sexual contact in the treated area until the area is completely healed. Some medicine may be more expensive than others. Recurrence Removing genital warts does not cure an HPV infection.
Even if genital warts have been removed or destroyed: You may still be able to infect sex partners with HPV. You should continue to use latex condoms during sexual intercourse if you have multiple sex partners. Surgery You may have surgery to remove genital warts if they are widespread and medicine or freezing cryotherapy fails to remove them. Surgery choices Surgical methods that may be used include: Cryotherapy cryosurgery. Surgical excision. The direction that treatment will take depends on the amount of warts present, their location and their physical appearance.
Some patients will choose to undergo no treatment for genital warts. This option is perfectly safe but will generally prolong the problem. If the patient does opt for treatment, there are a number of different options to explore:. Although they are not percent reliable, the use of condoms remains the most effective way of preventing the contraction genital warts. There are also HPV vaccines available.
These vaccines do not protect against all strains of HPV but may be effective in preventing genital warts. To help protect against genital warts, condoms should be used every time vaginal, anal or oral intercourse is engaged in.
Apart from celibacy, this is the most effective prevention method currently known of. However, using a condom does not guarantee full protection. The virus may be able to spread from genital skin not covered by the condom. A HPV vaccine can be effective in preventing genital warts, as well as other conditions including cervical cancer.
These vaccines are most effective if given before a young person becomes sexually active and are usually given between 11 and 13 years of age. Catch-up programs are sometimes available up to the age of 26, but vaccination in people over 26 has been shown to be ineffective. There are a number of vaccines available Gardasil and Cervarix, for example , each protecting against a number of different HPV strains.
No vaccine is able to protect against all strains of HPV, nor guarantee defence against all types of genital warts. The human papillomavirus HPV that causes genital warts can also cause several forms of cancers, including: [8]. Q: Should sexual intercourse be avoided when genital warts are present?
A: Yes. HPV is highly contagious, meaning sexual intercourse should be avoided to prevent passing the virus on. If this is not possible, a condom should be worn. Q: Genital warts during pregnancy — should I be worried? A: Generally, no. It is unlikely that HPV will be passed from mother to baby before or during childbirth. The virus can also be passed to a baby from its mother during birth, but this is rare.
Genital warts are caused by a virus called human papillomavirus HPV. There are many types of HPV. Warts may go away without treatment, but this may take many months. You can still pass the virus on, and the warts may come back. The HPV vaccine that's offered to girls and boys aged 12 to 13 in England protects against cervical cancer and genital warts. Find out more about the HPV vaccine. Most pregnant women with genital warts have a vaginal delivery. Very rarely you might be offered a caesarean, depending on your circumstances.
Page last reviewed: 24 August Next review due: 24 August Most sexually active people will have some strain at some point in their lives. Here's why HPV testing is important and what…. Most sexually active men and women will have HPV at some point in their lives.
About 40 types of HPV are sexually transmitted. In rare cases, HPV is a…. Many STDs can lead to infertility. If you have human papillomavirus HPV , you may be wondering whether it has the same effect. Learn how you can successfully control your asthma, with tips for short-term relief, management techniques, medical treatments, and more.
Learn how to tell if you have asthma, how to tell asthma apart from similar conditions, and what to do next for diagnosis, treatment, and management. Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. Genital Wart FAQs. They most often develop externally on the: vulva shaft or head of the penis scrotum groin perineum between the genitals and anus anus They can also sometimes develop internally in the: vagina cervix anal canal. Do they hurt? Are they the same thing as herpes? How do you get genital warts?
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